Most of us spend a large part of our work day going from business meeting to another without bothering to assess if we are actually gaining anything out of them. Is there a way to make business meetings more productive?

In order to make the most out of a business meeting you need to improve the productivity of each such meeting. Every meeting should extract the maximum possible for the duration that it lasts. Do not try to make a meeting cover everything under the sun. Instead, try to make sure that the items on the agenda for the particular meeting are covered effectively. At the end of the meeting, the participants should leave knowing the tasks that they need to accomplish.

Here are a few more tips to get the most of out your business meetings.

Business meetings should never be held on an ad hoc basis. You should prepare for a meeting in advance. Start by listing the objectives of the meeting. These objectives need to be clear, specific and measurable. These will help you check if you have covered the meeting goals. You will also waste less time trying to get to the point. List out the expectations or results that you expect from the meeting. During the course of the meeting, encourage the other participants to contribute with their ideas and opinions so that you have their buy-in. The more involved people are, the quicker you will be able to see results. Focus on the bigger issues at hand and do not let tertiary issues take over the meeting. Allow the tone of the meeting to be casual but do not let that make the participants treat the meeting as being frivolous. Leave the jokes for later.

Do not invite people to business meetings unless their presence is required. Just invite those who can actually contribute to the agenda of the meeting. This avoids wasting time for those people who are not really required. Business meetings should be held in a pleasant environment that makes the participants feel relaxed and comfortable. If required, you could rent out an office or conference venue for the meeting so that people have the opportunity to unwind.

Although you have prepared the points that need to be made do not be in a hurry to get to them immediately. Set a steady pace for the meeting and start by making everyone feel comfortable. The tempo should neither be too slow nor too fast.

Fast Food Restaurants may be a good place to get your team to bond, but are they good for business meetings? The informal atmosphere, casual approach and ‘meal’ environment may make your team feel relaxed and open to new ideas, but will they be able to focus or will distractions keep them from paying attention? Join me on a journey into unusual meeting ideas.

Planning a business meeting is generally straight forward. You have your equipment, agenda and goals all to hand as your staff troop in for another company up-date, but what about those who work out in the field? Or what if you want to shake your team up a little to help them think outside the box? Are fast food restaurants a good a place to hold your business meeting instead of the main office?

Obviously fast food restaurants exist for one reason: to serve up fast food so that hunger is satisfied quickly. The cuisine is not too refined and the cost fairly cheap. Table service is not always an option and the surroundings reflect a universal company theme. The atmosphere is relaxed but not too chilled and they don’t want you to linger overly long. There is usually canned music of questionable quality and often a family atmosphere. To a fast food franchise owner, faster turn-over equals faster profits.

So, fast food restaurants – are they good for business meetings?

1) If you are in a mainstream business and planning to move some boundaries or offload new concepts on your staff, a fast food restaurant could be used to your advantage. You could do away with ‘traditional’ business meeting mode and ease your staff into the meeting with an appropriate ice-breaker.

Here are a few pointers to help with business meeting productivity:

* Choose a location far away from competitors! You don’t want to offer them a birds-eye view of your plans.
* Choose the quietest period. Eg. Wait until kids are at school and mums at the shops!
* Pre-warn the manager if your team is large. Make sure there are vegetarian options on offer.
* Find the furthest place away from the evil music!
* Use the franchise model and environment to make comparisons with your new concepts.
* Thank the manager for the use of the premises – especially if you wish to return.
* Enjoy the event! Make sure you take all necessary equipment (agenda, pens, paper etc) so that the meeting can start promptly and end on time.

2) If you are a home business owner or MLM affiliate and time is of the essence, fast food restaurants make an ideal place to slot in a quick, informal business meeting to catch up with your team. Choose a location within easy reach of your team and local schools to aid a quick getaway. Make sure you have assembled all new products and information so that discussions can get underway quickly and end promptly. Enjoy the event!

Business meetings are an unavoidable part of business life, but who said they have to be dull and boring? The trick is to find different locations to turn them into Enjoyable Events! To achieve this, increase your skill base to leave ‘boring’ behind. Learn new methods and strategies that will take your business way out of everyday league and even help you achieve multiple streams of income. That way you won’t be dependent on one business idea alone. I hope “Fast food restaurants – are they good for business meetings? is helpful.

Leading a business meeting is not as easy as it seems. There are a lot of business meetings which are ill-directed, drawn out and digressive. For this reason, you have to appropriately plan your meeting so that it is firmly structured and you can achieve your goals.

The first thing you have to do to lead your business meeting runs well is to decide whether or not you highly have to call a meeting. You have to consider whether that problem can be resolved by individual. If it can, you don’t have to call a meeting then. On the other hand, if it can’t, you can call a meeting.

The second thing is to determine the attendants. Certain issue may only involve certain individual. You have to consider the individual who has to attend the meeting. It allows the other to keep on doing their tasks. In addition, it will make the discussion more focus.

The third thing is to prepare for the agenda. You have to determine the definite time to start and stop. Also, you have to determine the goals and the main priority of your goals. It will help you to make the meeting clear. In addition, you have to circulate the agenda earlier so that the attendants can make a preparation.

The fourth step is to start your meeting after all are ready. You can start it from the easier issue and then to the heavier issues so that your meeting will be effective. For each issue you want to discuss, you have to make certain allotted time. To help you monitor the time, you can use a timer. Set the discussion at the end of the meeting so that you can cover all the issues in the agenda.

The last thing you have to do is to hand out copies right after the meeting so that you can remind everyone about the result of the meeting and the action plans.